It doesn't matter in the least whether one Frenchman says: "_C'est ma Foi_;" or another "_C'est un scandale_;" the landscape is gloriously beautiful. Of the Grotto itself one can only remark that its present-day garnishings are blatant, garish and offensive. The great, slim basilica rises on its monticule as was planned. It has been amply endowed and extravagantly built. Before it is a _perron_, or more properly a _scala-sancta_, and the whole is so theatrically disposed, with a great square before it, that one can quite believe it all a stage-setting and nothing more. As a place of pilgrimage, Lourdes is perhaps the most popular in all the world, certainly it comes close after Jerusalem and Rome. Alphonse XIII, the present ruler of Spain, made his devotions here in August, 1905. Argelès is practically a resort, and has the disposition of a Normandy village; that is, its houses are set about with trees and growing verdure of all sorts. For this reason it is a delightful garden city of the first rank. Argelès' chief attraction is its site; there are no monuments worth mentioning, and these are practically ruins. Argelès is a watering-place pure and simple, with great hotels and many of them, and prices accordingly. Above Argelès the Gave divides, that portion to the left taking the name of Gave de Cauterets, while that to the right still retains the name of Gave de Pau. Cauterets has, in late years, become a great resort, due entirely to its waters and the attendant attractions which have grouped themselves around its _établissement_. The beneficial effect of the drinking or bathing in medicinal waters might be supposed to be somewhat negatived by bridge and baccarat, poker and "_petits chevaux_" but these distractions--and some others--seem to be the usual accompaniments of a French or German spa. [Illustration: _Cauterets_] "_C'est le premier jour de septembre que les bains des Pyrénées commencent à avoir de la vertu._" Thus begins the prologue to Marguerite de Navarre's "Heptameron." The "season" to-day is not so late, but the queen of Navarre wrote of her own experiences and times, and it is to be presumed she wrote truly. A half a century ago Cauterets was a dirty, shabby village, nearly unknown, but the exploiter of resorts got hold of it, and with a few medical endorsements forthwith made it the vogue until now it is as trim and well-laid-out a little town as one will find.